The launch of ‘TRANSformations’ a groundbreaking DVD of short digital stories created by transgender and gender non-conforming people in South Africa  is taking place 20 March. The DVD explores the lives and experiences of the participants and their resilience in the face of considerable adversity.

The Cape Town launch takes place on Friday, 20 March from 19h00 and is being held at popular venue, Friendly Society, 125 Waterkant Street, Green Point. The project is a collaboration between Gender DynamiX, Women’sNet and Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action (GALA).

“There is an alarming lack of awareness found across South African society of the issues affecting transgender and gender non-conforming people, and a failure to embrace them,” says Liesl Theron, director of Gender DynamiX. “I believe this project provides us with an important tool to begin changing this situation.”

“...with my participation it made me to be strong and to learn how to appreciate other people’s feelings. I appreciated this for it reassured me that I am not alone and it made me to become more outspoken” replies one of the participants.

The project brought together a diverse group of transgender and gender non-conforming people for a five day workshop during which they created multimedia digital stories using a range of computer software and based on their own words, text and pictures. Says Women’sNet director Sally-Jean Shackleton, “In helping participants create their own short digital stories, the project ensured that they were able to tell their stories on their own terms. Digital stories are an important tool for the transgender community in South Africa to reach out to the wider public.”

“One of the problems facing any oral history project,” says Anthony Manion, GALA director, “is how to make sure that the life stories don’t just sit in a box in the archives, but actually get used to promote dialogue in the community. One of the reasons I am so excited about this project is that it packages the stories of transgender South African’s in a way that is accessible, informative and engaging for teachers and other service providers but that is still completely on the participant’s own terms.”

The project marks the second time that Gender DynamiX, Women’sNet and GALA have collaborated, following a body mapping project with transgender and gender non-conforming people that ended with an exhibition of art work at Constitution Hill in 2007.

Date:        March 20, 2009
Time:        19h00 for 19h30
Venue:     Friendly Society, 125a Waterkant Street, Green Point

For more information about the DVD or launch, contact Tebogo Nkoana at 021 633 5287 ext 132 or tebogo@genderdynamix.org.za